The two main contenders for the Mumbai South Central constituency — the Shiv Sena’s Rahul Shewale and Eknath Gaikwad from the Congress — filed their nominations for the Lok Sabha elections on Monday.
Mr. Shewale submitted his papers to election officer Shahaji Pawar. He was accompanied by Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray, MP Anil Desai, MLA Prasad Lad, party leader Suryakant Mahadik, Republican Party of India (RPI) district leader Siddharth Kasare and corporator Kamini Shewale.
Mr. Shewale said, “With the work done in the past five years, the backing of the Sena, BJP, RPI, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Shivsangram, Rayat Kranti and Dalit Panther alliance, and the constant support of the voters, I hope that I will be elected again.”
Before filing the nomination, Mr. Shewale went to Siddhivinayak Temple, visited statues of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Swatantryaveer Savarkar, the site of the Bal Thackeray memorial, and Mahim Dargah.
Eknath Gaikwad of the Congress after filing his nomination on Monday.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gaikwad filed his nomination in the presence of former mayor Chandrakant Handore, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik, Congress MLA Varsha Gaikwad, Congress district president Hukumraj Mehta, and many Congress-NCP workers.
Speaking later, Mr. Gaikwad said the Narendra Modi-led NDA government had done nothing in the past five years. “They only made false promises. Not a single development work has been completed yet.”
He said, “The government does not believe in parliamentary democracy and [the BJP] wants to bring dictatorship in the country. But now, people understand their intention and won’t let them come to power.”
